Modifying the bootstrap peers list

The IPFS bootstrap list is a list of peers with which the IPFS daemon learns about other peers on the network. IPFS comes with a default list of trusted peers, but you are free to modify the list to suit your needs. One popular use for a custom bootstrap list is to create a personal IPFS network.

The lines listed above are the addresses of the default IPFS bootstrap nodes – they are run by the IPFS development team. The addresses listed are fully resolved and specified in multiaddr format, which makes every protocol explicit. This way, your node knows exactly where to reach the bootstrap nodes – the location is unambiguous.

Don’t change this list unless you understand what it means to do so. Bootstrapping is an important security point of failure in distributed systems: malicious bootstrap peers could only introduce you to other malicious peers. It is recommended to keep the default list provided by the IPFS dev team, or – in the case of setting up private networks – a list of nodes you control. Don’t add peers to this list that you don’t trust.